Bump in the Night
by SilyaBeeodess
Summary: Layne is your average college student; working hard to earn her major and keep her scholarship on the swim team. However, when a surprise extraterrestial...guest, makes his way into her home, her world in turned upside down as she tries to pacify the stubborn Predator while still keeping her own dignity intact. Will she manage to keep her head where it belongs and live?
1. Chapter 1

_Aaaaaannnnd….Done! _A tired sigh escaped past Layne's lips as she plopped back against the headrest of her bed, her laptop resting on her thighs. Although going for majors in Music and Acting, she had decided ahead of time to seek a degree in Creative Writing as well, as a back-up plan in the event she didn't make it in the Preforming Arts business. It was a small field after all and she was already doing well as a freelance writer. She felt great a sense of success and relief in seeing her finished final draft of her article on the city's local humane society.

It was three o'clock in the morning, and, although born a night owl, Layne was exhausted from the long day. Two cans of energy drinks rested on the nightstand, one of them drained of their contents. Still, she had wanted to finish the article ahead of time in order to be done with it now rather than later and also that it still needed to be examined by her current boss before it could be published.

Other than her bed and the nightstand, the sparsely decorated room contained little other furniture besides a bookshelf and a second bed for her roommate, Marcy. The two girls shared a small, apartment-sized cottage on their college campus. They split the bill on housing and other necessities. Currently, however, Marcy was off visiting her family and wouldn't be back for about a week, so Layne had the house to herself.

She made a soft yawn as her tired eyes fell on the two cans. Groggily, she set her laptop aside, picked the cans up and headed to the kitchen. A hint of paranoia crept up her spine as she looked out of the window, the blinds currently open. There had been reports of a few students going missing on the other side of the campus and it admittedly had her worried. That was one of the reasons why Marcy had left for a while. Layne, on the other hand, was too stubborn to be convinced in fleeing north to her own family a few states away. Most, including her parents, said that Layne thought herself as "ten-foot-tall and bulletproof." In reality, she just wanted people to see her as purely independent. This flaw was what had kept her back; she refused to admit fear if she didn't find it rational. For all she knew, those students were just drunk and spending a few days partying who knows where.

Layne still worried though. In fact, after Marcy had left, she had borrowed a Louisville Slugger from a friend and kept it by her bedside. It wasn't as useful as a gun, of course, but she figured she would be going a little too far if she purchased one. Besides, other than the times she had used hunting rifle in high school, she had no experience with them.

She closed the blinds.

Meanwhile, stalking through the campus on a silent tread, Arbitrator Kruk'jedhin- his name translating to 'Unyielding One' in the human language of English- stood atop of one of the dorm buildings. He found that this would be a proper enough vantage point of the odd human village; at least, he assumed it was a village. However, there weren't any Pyode Amedha pups around or very many elders, just fully-matured adults. Neither did they seem to live in the closely bonded families they were known for, but rather in around groups of two of the same gender. There was also the oddity of that it seemed to be a village within another village. These creatures were peculiar indeed.

He looked about for any other Yautja in the area. For the past few days he had been tracking a young and foolish Bad-Blood on the backwater planet known as Urth. He had found and lost the trail here, managing to find the skinned and headless corpses of a small group of humans, but not the Bad-Blood. He had disposed of the bodies quickly and efficiently, lest the Pyode Amedha find them and involve themselves in this affair more than they should. There were already rumors and suspicions that the monkey-like creatures knew about the Yautja; maybe even had captured a few of his brethren to satisfy their horrid curiosity and experiments. Although any attempts for them to track him down would be amusing as it was futile, Kruk'jedhin didn't want to risk the soft meats gaining more knowledge of his kind. And also any interference that they might cause had a chance of disrupting his mission.

A cold wind picked up and made his muscles tighten in response. Yes; this was a mission he wished to be finished with sooner instead of later so that he may return to the comforts of his own ship and back to the hunt on some far off, and exceedingly warmer, world. This planet's atmosphere was too cold for his liking, even during its hottest season.

There; he believed he caught movement. Two humans, a male and female, walked close to one another on a narrow rock path, passing many small structures. He huffed at their ignorance. Even the most dim-witted of animals could sense the danger and death in this area, especially at this time of the planet's rotation. Understanding human nature, he questioned why they would put themselves at risk…and without any form of weaponry none the less?

He was not the only one who spotted the pair; Kruk'jedhin saw his target as well, crouching atop of one of the human dwellings in preparation to pounce. Kruk'jedhin's temper went up several notches as he glared daggers at his target. The humans were unarmed, weak, and unworthy of the hunt. There was no honor in taking their skulls and yet the Bad-Blood still intended for them to die at his hands anyway.

Quickly, Kruk'jedhin climbed down from the dorm building and then charged across the rows of rooftops toward the Bad-Blood, issuing a roar in challenge. The two humans, startled and looking around in confusion, screamed and ran off as the Bad-Blood uncloaked turned to face the Arbitrator, roaring back in response. Once in range, Kruk'jedhin lunged at the Bad-Blood, his Combistick in hand.

Layne heard the sounds of screams and of some lion-like roars coming from just outside. What; did a pack of the giant, killer furballs escape from the city zoo? Her toothbrush still sticking out of her mouth, she froze at the noise, and then raced to her bedroom at the sounds of thumping and clashing metal, grabbing her bat. The noises seemed too close for comfort.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound…coming from the living room! Quietly, Layne raised the bat and moved down the short hallway on silent, bare feet. If there was a lion, she wouldn't stand much of a chance; her in her soft green and chocolate brown pajama pants, with cartoon milk cartons and chocolate-chip cookies with smiley faces all over them. And her white tank top with the same style cartoon, melting ice-cream with the words "Hot Mess" written in chocolate sauce. Add this to her messy, pulled back in a low ponytail, brown hair, and the tooth brush still sticking out of her mouth- which she had forgotten about and was currently biting down hard on- and there was nothing in this world that could make her even appear slightly threatening.

The only thing she had going for her physically was her decent looks- not like she ever tried to make herself look good though- and her well suited body and lungs for a swimmer. That's how she was able to afford going to an out-of-state college on her budget anyway; by earning a swimming scholarship. Being on the swim team kept her nimble and lean, with healthy muscles and a diet running on a ton of carbohydrates, but it didn't give her too much in the overall strength department.

The very first thing she noticed when she entered the living room was a pair of male Predators wrestling in the middle of the floor, red-hot fury radiating form both of them as they battled it out. Layne nearly choked on toothpaste, some of which dripped out of her mouth and onto the carpet, as she stared unbelievably at the seen in front of her. These were the things from horror movies. She felt as if she had landed herself into one of those Netflix commercials.

The two Predators didn't seem to notice her existence and kept at it. Both were heavily armed and armored, with strange gun-like devices strapped to their shoulders and utility belts that would've made Batman turn green with envy. She couldn't see their faces due to the metal masks they wore, leaving their facial features to her imagination. They were also huge, at least seven feet tall each. One of them was a deep, dirt brown on the majority of his body, with mottled specks of jet black all over. Its skin tone lightened around his chest and abdomen. The other seemed a bit larger than his adversary and for the most part was a dark forest green with light brown specks. Those colors blended with some sort of cream color around his pecks, all the way from neck to groin. The latter seemed in better condition as well, its armor better kept with a sheen shine to it. There were more ornate rings around the dreadlocks of this one than the former also.

Still wide-eyed in shock, Layne dragged her feet past the pair and to the kitchen, where she picked up the half-full can of energy drink from the dining table. She had set it out for breakfast tomorrow, but now she walked to the trash bin and mechanically dropped it in. _No more energy drinks before bed, _she thought to herself, _ever! _

When she reentered the living room, she gazed up for the first time to find that there was a large hole in the roof. That would explain the wood and shingle splinters the surrounded the Predators on the floor. Speaking of which, she glanced back over to the two beings that she half-heartedly had convinced herself by now had come from something out of her exhausted, delirious mind. By morning, they'd be gone, the roof would be fixed, and she'd be happily eating a bowl of Honey Comb cereal in front of the TV. She came in just in time to see the forest green skinned one stab the other in the chest with some sort of spear, killing it. The winner's mask had been knocked off somehow, so she could tell that its face was also cream colored and that it had four mandibles instead of lips. Its hazel eyes were bright with intelligence…and rage. Neon green ooze coming out of both Predators stained the carpet.

Once again, Layne marched right past them, only this time heading for the bathroom to pee and then to her cozy bed for a good, long rest, with the bat beating rhythmically against her ankle as she walked.

Kruk'jedhin roared again, this time in triumph, as he ripped the head off of the perished Bad-Blood with his bare hands. Breathing heavily, he stared down at his handiwork and mentally congratulated himself for winning the fight. The scent of his musk in his aggressive state was everywhere in the chamber in the tiny human dwelling he had fallen into.

As he took out a vial of corrosive, dissolving liquid, he wondered why he felt that that something was missing from the scene. Then he remembered…then human female! He had barely caught her approach the fight in the middle of his battle rage and lust. The least witnesses there were, the better, and he had already allowed the two Pyode Amedha from earlier to run off. Besides that, it might be contacting more of its kind to come to its aid in fear that it would be next to die. Kruk'jedhin was confident he could face a few humans, but injured as he was, he was uncertain of his fate should a large group of them arrive, more than likely all of them with burners.

Not bothering to be stealthy, he began squeezing through the hall that was a smaller fit than he'd have liked. The door was open, but the light turned off to the human's sleeping quarters. Although a little short for a Yautja- only six foot ten- he still needed to duck down a bit in order to fit through the doorway without hitting his head in its frame.

Kruk'jedhin was taken aback to see the human female curled underneath a couple blankets on a cot, its body limp and breathing shallow; not yet asleep, but well on its way to unconsciousness. From what he'd learned in studies and from personal experience, the creature should be cowering in fear or of not that, attacking him; not napping and unnaturally calm. He knew that the Pyode Amedhas were unpredictable, but this was ridiculous.

It also irritated him that the thing showed no fear toward him.

With a gruff bark, ordering the female to stand and face him, to act defiant or at least dignify his presence, he rapped it against the head with a fist. It made a moaning sound and, without opening its eyes, shooed his hand away with one flailing arm.

"Go away, Marcy. It's too early and I'm tired," it whined groggily in its native tongue, rolling over on its stomach and pulling a pillow over its head.

Without his mask- he had forgotten it in the main chamber of the dwelling- and the translator built into it, Kruk'jedhin had only understood two of the words the human had said. _Go…tired. _This caused his jaw to drop in shock. No one, _no one_, had addressed and dismissed him this way ever since he had been a Youngblood, working hard to train for his Chiva and eventually rise in the ranks…

His eyes narrowed at the human female and a low growl erupted from his throat. It said something again, this time something he understood, "Stupid dog…" and he was just about to yank it from the cot by its long hair and pound it for its blatant disrespect when he picked up a silent snore coming from the creature.

He huffed and sat down on the cot opposite from the human and its own. The cot made a groaning/creaking noise, not used to his weight, but able to take it. He would wait to challenge the human- the thing needed to be taught a lesson- but not patiently. Kruk'jedhin would teach the female a lesson in both pain and what happened when you didn't respect those above you.

He could hear his training masters now, asking him why he refused to just walk away since humans were typically meek and idiotic and, for a fact, by far weaker than a Yautja. However, he would not stand for being insulted by mere prey. He couldn't, he wouldn't, kill it unless it was necessary; it was still an unarmed female- as far as he was concerned it was unarmed anyway, for he could easily snap the tiny club by its cot like a twig if it attempted to use it against him. But the human would remember to act wiser in a Yautja's presence. Kruk'jedhin even began to consider taking this one as a living trophy, a slave, should it put up a fair enough fight or its disrespect become too great.

As he waited for the Pyode Amedha to awaken so that he may challenge it properly and began the fight, his own eyelids began to droop. Within half an hour, he was sprawled on top of Marcy's bed and in a deep slumber of his own.


	2. Chapter 2

_((__**Author's Note:**__ Thank you all for your support in this fanfiction. This is the most popular one I've ever had and I'm thrilled to know you find some parts funny. A lot of people think I have a weird sense of humor or don't get my jokes, so it's a big confidence boost. I also love getting reviews and responses from you all because it lets me know people are interested as well as help me decide how a story should go and whether or not I'm making the characters play their parts believably.)) _

A pair of grey-blue eyes, the color of murky waters, cracked open as the sun's morning rays danced across Layne's face. Moaning, she squeezed them shut again, silently ordering the sun go away and leave her the heck _alone_. However, she was already too awake to doze back into the bliss of slumber. Layne unwillingly pushed herself up into a sitting position and stretched her arms behind her head. She heard an oddly satisfying popping sound coming from her shoulder…followed by a low rumble coming from her left…

"Holy-!" Layne quickly covered her own mouth, stopping a curse from exploding out of her. Her eyes betrayed her fear and utter shock as she gazed across to the other side of the room to see the giant killer from her nightmare, snoozing away. _Not a dream! NOT A DREAM! _her mind screamed at her as panic began to override all systems, instinct telling her to run like the wind and never look back.

She began to go into a minor hysteria, her breathing rapidly increasing…Where was a paper bag when you needed one! Realizing that the thing hadn't moved, she calmed down just a fraction. _Ok…Ok, I'm still sleepy…Yeah,_ she started reasoning with herself, _I'm just gonna close my eyes, and when I open them, it'll be-_ she reopened them, _And it's still there…Dang it, why isn't it going away!_

A high-pitched squeaking sound came from her throat as the truth, as well as the danger she was in, dawned on her. _Oh my gosh, somebody kill it with fire!_

Calming down just a fraction, Layne slowly began sliding off of her bed and onto the floor. Quietly, she felt herself sit down upon the wood. The thing stirred just a moment before rolling onto its side...facing toward her. _Pleasedon'twakeup, pleasedon'twakeup, pleasedon'twakeup!_ her mind kept chanting as she reached for the bat.

Still on her hands and knees, she crawled out of the room and grabbed a metal pot from the kitchen; placing it on her head- neither she nor her roommate owned a helmet. Then she shimmied right back to the snoozing behemoth's side.

Then she did the only rational thing she could think of; she poked at it.

Nothing happened. Not that there was much she could've done anyway if anything had.

It was asleep. She could get out now before it got up- be half way across the city and it wouldn't be any wiser. Then again, if that guy- who she now officially dubbed in her crazy mind as Godzilla- managed to kill his buddy- who apparently was related to King Kong- last night, then there wasn't a doubt in her mind that this maniac could track her down like a dog if it wanted to.

_You're in deep Layne, _she thought to herself. She stood, pondering over what to do. The big bugger hadn't tried to kill her-_yet_, so what did it want? More importantly, why didn't it leave sooner and instead just decide to waltz into her bedroom like it owned the place. She gave him a thorough glancing over, not failing to notice the cuts all along his robust form. _Guess if I picked a fight with Kong Jr. _she thought, _I'd be pretty beat too._

It didn't take a genius to know this guy wasn't somebody she could just push out of the bed and order to get out, much like she had her older brother so many years ago when they were both in high school and she needed him for a ride to get there. If somebody tried that…Well, good luck. No; you didn't screw around with this one. That much was clear. _Ok, Layne,_ she mused, _looks like if you want Godzilla out, you gotta make nice with him first._

…This wasn't gonna be easy for her.

After tossing on a jacket and getting a camping tarp from the coat closet, her first order of business was to fix the whole in the roof the two giants had made the night before. Seriously, it was _freezing_ inside! In a few minutes, the tarp was stretched out over the roof, held down by bricks and rocks. How the heck was she going to explain this to her landlord? _Well, you see sir, it's not my fault. These two bumbling, huge gladiators- who I believe might have been either Jamaicans or Bob Marley fans, since they had dreds- broke into the house through the roof in the middle of the night._ Insurance probably didn't have cover for that either. She was better off trying to fix it herself.

When she was done, she went back to the bedroom, carrying a first aid kit and a wash cloth, to find that Godzilla was still asleep. As gently and quietly as she could, Layne began removing the metal plates on his bulky form in order to see the full extent of the damage. She had some trouble removing the weird shoes, and when he stirred as she removed the metal armor around his groin, she had been ready to bolt out of there like Speedy Gonzales, but thankfully he had settled back down. 

Eventually, she had managed to strip him down to his mesh outfit, a loincloth, and the last two pieces of armor; his wrist gauntlets. After a few prolonged minutes of fiddling with the straps, she got the first one off. While taking off the other, however, the top of it popped open, revealing some type of control panel.

_What the heck is this supposed to be? _she questioned with a raised brow, turning the opened gauntlet in her hands, _Some futuristic phone? _That's when she started meddling with the dials and buttons.

The thing began to beep in her hands, flashing strange red lights.

_Ah-oh, _Layne thought, her eyes widening, _that can't be a good sign!_

With a soft cry of alarm, she rapidly searched for a way to shut it off. The beeping increased in tempo and pitch, only adding to her fear. Just who in the world carries a bomb around on their arm? If all else failed though, she would toss the thing out the window; better some freshman that thought he owned the place than her.

There must have been some god up there looking out for her, because the beeping stopped. By some miracle, she found the right button or code. Sighing in relief, she looked back at her new 'guest', who was still out of it.

_Huh,_ she thought with slight disdain, _sound sleeper._

She set to work, doing what she could for his wounds- she was a performer and a writer, not a doctor- then returned to the kitchen to begin breakfast.

Kruk'jedhin awoke to the scent of spices and cooked flesh and the sound of a machine thrumming loudly. It took less than a minute to collect his bearings and remember where he was. Bolting into an upright position in bed- and nearly breaking it in the process- he looked around for the human female, but she was gone. It was a bad idea and his still fresh wounds protested at the sudden movement. Although an Arbitrator, he was still new to the position, still young enough to have a lot more to learn before being seen as anyone serious amongst the other, more experienced members, of his rank. The Bad-Blood had managed to do a number on him before he struck the final blow.

He first took in the site of himself; wrapped in white, sterile cloth around his ribcage and on his arms, the splinters of wood that had pierced in his skin gone, his armor removed and instead lying about on the floor, and a little wet from recent cleansing. He huffed; human medicine and medical treatment was so primitive, but then again, almost _everything _about the species was.

He found where the smell was coming from; a platter of Urth food set upon the small table in between the two beds. There was a large pile of yellow, cooked mush next to strips of some kind of fried meat and a pair of hard-skinned red fruit. A large mug of cold milk sat beside it. A quick scan determined that the food was edible and hadn't been tainted with poisons or sedatives.

Kruk'jedhin looked to the opening of the quarters, finding it odd that he wasn't being detained by humans, and it was even stranger still that the creature hadn't tried to kill him since it woke up first. The rumbling of his stomach won over his reasoning though and he set to emptying the plate. He disregarded the human dining tools that had been laid out and instead dove into the meal with his bare hands. The human had been pretty accurate in assuming the size of the serving that would provide nourishment for a standard Yautja, although there could have been more to drink. When devouring the fruit, he held the red orb in place with his mandibles and bit into the sweet flesh. The fruit itself was delectable, but he found the core unappetizing.

Digging through the pile of his equipment, he got out his medicomp and pulled out a health shard and a tube of antiseptic. He applied the latter first after tearing himself free of the white cloth. Then, with a sharp intake of breath, he pulled the shard in two and stabbed the halves into his chest.

His roar of pain could've shaken the foundations of the dwelling to crumbled ruins.

The machine-like sound coming from the other room whirred into silence. He heard a human voice call out. _Good…up,_ was all he got out of it. Stepping out of the sleeping quarters, he headed toward the main area of the dwelling to find the human female sitting on a long, cushioned chair in front of a viewing screen, holding a plate with smaller portions of the meal he just finished.

Layne watched Godzilla enter, having quickly changed the channel on the TV from sports to _Animal Planet_. The last thing she wanted was to give the guy any ideas about hunting down the football team. She had also been cleaning the carpet to get out the green blood stains with an extractor, and shut it off after hearing the roar that meant the dude was awake in order to holler back. The carpet was covered in soapy, wet suds, but most of the stains were gone. "Have a nice nap?" she asked, returning her attention to her food.

Confusion was replaced with anger as Kruk'jedhin recalled last night's memories of the female's insults. His eyes narrowed in on her and he got into a fighting stance, issuing a growl in challenge.

Layne had just enough time to look up before a blur of green slammed into her at full speed, with all the impact as if she had been run over by an eighteen wheeler. She was sent flying off of the couch, her breakfast scattering everywhere on the floor, and landed in a heap near the wall with Godzilla hovering over her.

At first, all she knew was soreness and pain. It was by pure luck that she hadn't broken a bone, but there definitely would be some major bruising. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, Layne glared back at the huge being that was none-to-pleased to see her either this morning. "Just what the heck was that for?" she yelled at him.

No bothering with an explanation, he picked her up with both massive hands by the front of her tank and shoved her against the wall, letting her drop with a thud back on her rear. The next time he made a go for her, Layne quickly rolled out of the way and back behind him.

_What am I going to do?_ her mind panicked. She couldn't keep up a game of duck and dodge, not with this guy. And she certainly couldn't outrun him.

So she used the same tactics as she did when she played water polo with the others on the swim team, many of whom- mainly the guys- that were bigger than her as well. Once again she avoided Godzilla's arm swinging to either hit her hard in the face or grab her one…

…then ducked behind him once more, jumping up and latching onto his back like a leech; straddling her arms and legs around his torso and refusing to let go.

Kruk'jedhin felt her hang onto him. Now this was a new move her hadn't seen before. He first tried shaking her off, but if anything she gripped a hold of him tighter, her blunt nails digging into his tough flesh. So he attempted to pry her off of him with his hands, but that didn't happen either, and when it did, she just swiftly grabbed back on.

_C'jit, ooman, you coward, _he felt like growling, _let go already and fight me like a warrior!_

He began to slam his backside into the wall to knock her off. Hearing her grunts of pain, Kruk'jedhin thought that it might just work.

And then someone knocked on the front door.

Both of them froze upon hearing a human male's gruff voice, "Ms. Sharpell, Ms. Hachette, are you home?" Another knock sounded.

"Time out," Layne said quietly to Godzilla, "I gotta get this." Slipping off of his back and rubbing her own aching one, she shouted, "Hang on! I'm coming!"

Kruk'jedhin glared from the fact that their fight had been interrupted and then, wishing to see who it was, started following the female to the door. She turned around and gave the universal shake of her head that meant 'no', gesturing for him to stay put. Seeing the wisdom in this he, reluctantly, agreed; picking up his mask from where he had left it the previous night and putting it on before huffing and crossing his arms over his chest.

Layne opened the door a crack, just enough to see who it was. Two men in tuxes stood on her doorstep. _Looks like the Men in Black are in town,_ she thought. Further opening the door- but still not enough for them to look in- she asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," one of the men replied as his counterpart attempted to pier inside. Layne tilted her head sideways to block his view, "We work here on campus for the Administration Office and received some complaints from this area last night that people were hearing odd, roaring noises. The same people called in again saying they heard them this morning not too long ago. We also met a couple who claimed to have seen aliens fighting on the rooftops. After all of this and the recent disappearances on the other side of the campus, we decided to check things out. Would you know anything at all?"

_Administration Office my butt, _Layne mused in suspicion. If anything, these guys looked like the FBI. And although right now Godzilla was a pain in her rear, she didn't plan on letting him become some science experiment.

Besides, it was _her_ job to get back at him for jack-slapping her across the living room. "Can't say that I do. Are you sure it was around here?"

"We're certain," the other man said flatly. They seemed just about as suspicious of her as she was of them, "So you didn't hear anything at all?"

"Well," she rubbed her chin in pretend thought, playing along with the ruse, "What time did people say they heard the noises?"

"Around 3 o'clock in the morning."

"I would've been passed out on my bed by then. If there was anything, I must have slept through it."

"Understood. Thank you for your time." The two began walking off to their parked car in front of the cottage.

"Sorry I couldn't be of help," she called out to them to make her seem a bit more realistic and concerned, watching as they wave and drive off. Closing the door behind her, she added in a soft mutter, "you pretentious pricks."

Layne saw Godzilla staring at her from the other side of the room, his head cocked to one side. She also spotted the dent in the wall created by her being smooshed into it. Regaining composer, she scowled at him, "Now if you don't mind, _I," _she pointed to herself, "am going to take a shower, wondering whether or not to apply ice or heat, and then head out on some errands. And _you,_" she pointed to him next, "can either stay here to help clean up this mess that _you _made or get out and go back to whatever rock you crawled out from." Without waiting for a reply, she marched off to the bathroom.

Kruk'jedhin stared after the human female. With his translator in his possession again, he was able to interpret to conversation she had with the two males of her kind, which he was easily able to recognize as threats with concealed weaponry. He was also able to understand that she wasn't going to turn him in.

He balked at her from behind his mask when she openly ordered him to leave or clean like some aseigan. Even after knowing how easily he could hurt her, she still remained defiant, unlike most other Pyode Amedha females.

This seemed worth investigating.


	3. Chapter 3

Stepping out from a warm shower, Layne quickly grabbed hold of a towel and wrapped it around herself before the cold air could get to her. Even so, she still felt like she was in the artic. How she always hated the cold! She _had _to get that roof fixed soon. Drying her hair, she felt around for her already set out clothing on the sink.

Looking up, she saw a green figure in the mirror and screamed in surprise and embarrassment.

"What are you doing? Don't look!" she yelled at the hulking behemoth, who was standing in the doorway. She gripped the towel tighter around herself and crossed her legs, "Get out!"

He cocked his head sideways at her but didn't budge. Layne heard something like a trill that she assumed was his form of laughter. Her cheeks turning pink, she grabbed the wet wash cloth hanging over the side of the tube and flung it at him, "You perve!"

Kruk'jedhin's chuckling cut off into a growl as the washing cloth hit his face. He yanked the thing off and tossed it on the floor in detest. Before he could enter the cleansing room, the human female slammed the door into his face. What exactly had he done wrong? Many Yautja washed in communal baths and he certainly was not unfamiliar with seeing a human's naked form, having skinned a fair number of them. This species' extreme sense of modesty was lost on him.

"_Men!" _he heard the female exclaim from behind the door.

_Oomans, _he thought with a huff.

Once Layne was ready, she went to her room and sent an email with her article to her editor. She crossed through the cottage a second time to find Godzilla searching through the fridge. When he turned to look at her, he had an apple latched in his jaws and another in his fist. There was a moment of silence before she just sighed and said, "I'm not even going to comment." With that, she walked out of the door to her car.

Kruk'jedhin cloaked and followed her.

Layne seemed to drive around town everywhere that day- to the bank, to the grocery, to Home Depot, to Subway, to Lowes, to a gas station, to the library, and finally to the college recreation center for swim practice. If she didn't hurry, she'd be late and would have to stay after to do a 400 butterfly. She jerked her bag from the backseat and raced into the building, already pulling her hair back into a ponytail as she ran.

Kruk'jedhin watched her head inside and hoped that this stop wouldn't be as dull as the others. His interest was raised as he saw young, fit humans exercising on various machines inside the thick glass walls of the compound. Taking a walk around it, he noticed there were various rooms inside for different physical activities. He saw the human female enter the one that- of course of all things- looked like a communal bath. However, all Pyode Amedha inside wore skin-tight suits and, rather than cleansing themselves, darted through the water from one side to the next. He assumed this was just another method of exercise for them. The female, wearing a blue cap that tucked away her mane of hair and a suit that covered her from groin to bosom, hopped in and joined the others.

For half an hour, they kept up their continuous strokes in the water until finally the one he had recognized as the trainer told them to step out for a round of push-ups and crunches. Both the males and females could keep up with each other fairly well. He examined the healthy bodies and cores of these humans and found them well fit. A scan showed that their lungs also seemed very strong. He didn't believe them to be as tough as human warriors- of course they wouldn't be, having not been combed for battle- but if they did know how to fight, they would make decent prey.

It was elegantly simple for him to sneak inside for a closer look. Kruk'jedhin squat down upon the stair-like seats on one side of the swimming area, finding the female he had followed here in the mix of them once more. Again, they jumped into the water and continued their exercises. He noted that the female seemed very graceful in the water, more so than many of the others. Her strokes were very fluid, but fast. It seemed as if her bones were either made of the Urth substance called 'rubber' or they didn't exist at all. It was almost like watching a snake glide overtop a lake.

The trick he found most interesting was when they would reach the end of a roped-off lane, flip, and kick off one wall to head back the opposite way in a solid move. Yautja bodies were built for strength and endurance, not acrobatics and flexibility, so it was all a bit amusing to him. For a second, he wonder if perhaps Pyode Amedhas had originated from sea creatures, allowing them to have their swimming skills even after millions of years of evolution. It was hard to tell; the Yautja had only reached this backwater planet some thousand years ago and mostly they took their kills for trophies, not study.

A human male stopped briefly in his backward strokes to look at Kruk'jedhin and seemed to stare right at the Predator. The Yautja prepared for a worst case scenario in the event that the male was truly seeing him. However, the trainer soon spotted the male's dawdling and set him back on his way. The human shrugged and continued.

When the humans began lining up to race one another, Kruk'jedhin stepped down for a closer look. They were very good at diving in; their bodies stretching and lunging forward to gain as much distance as they could. He paused right by the side of the pool and stared at the small platform a few noks away where the female he knew was getting into a position that made her appear as if she would pounce at any moment. She stared straight ahead, a determined look in her eyes. A whistle was blown and the humans dived in.

Too bad Kruk'jedhin would never find out if the female would win against the rest. The moment the human closest to him went, in a splash of water sprayed out and nearly soaked him. His cloaking device went out almost instantly in a charade of electrical buzzes and blue and white sparks. _C'jit!_

A human screamed and was quickly joined by the others. Those swimming and only recently catching the loud ruckus stopped and bobbed up in confusion, before seeing him and soon following suit. A flurry of panic swept over the place like a massive storm. The Pyode Amedhas ran every which way in order to flee.

"_Monster!"_

"_Help!"_

"_Call 911!" _were a few of the shouts he heard and could make sense of that were ricocheting off the walls and choking his translator.

A braver- or dumber- male than the rest bound toward him wielding a thin tool obviously used for cleaning. Blocking his swing with his arm, Kruk'jedhin watched with a laugh as the human turned deathly pale, dropped the useless tool, and ran for his life as fast as his legs could go.

Just when he thought the room- maybe even the entire building by now- was completely emptied, he heard someone slap the water and shout, _"Really? REALLY! " _He turned to see the human female snarling at him from the middle of the water with her arms crossed over her chest, obviously unhappy with his sudden appearance and interruption of her swim.

He cocked his head to the side, waiting for her to continue. The female released a breath and rubbed a spot on her head where headaches were commonly from, _"You know you suck, right?"_

Layne got out of the water and collected her things- drying off quickly, redressing, and leaving her hair tied up. She lead her guest now turned apparent stalker out the back in order to draw less attention. Well, any more than he possibly could after that last stunt. Just what the heck had he been thinking?

She drove back home with Godzilla following her by tree. When they walked in, she slammed the door shut behind her and turned on him. "What the heck was that for?" she yelled, "Why in the world did you do that? Are you nuts?"

"Nuts?" she heard him ask in English in a rough, gravelly voice as he tilted his head at her again in question. It was a start anyway after hearing nothing from him save a huff of breath, trill, or growl.

"Yes; nuts! Crazy! Psycho! Insane! Loco! Out the wazoo!" she added to further illustrate her point.

He paused, as if collecting his thoughts, then replied, "Wished to watch. Wished to follow."

"Well guess what, bub?" she asked rhetorically, gesturing back to the front door, "Your playing stalker just freaked out half the campus and has more than likely scarred the entire swim team for _life_! If the Men in Black-"

"Men in Black?" he interrupted.

"_Whatever!"_ she cried out, throwing her hands up in the air, "It's a _movie! _ If those guys from earlier were looking for you, now they _know _for a fact that you're here! And now they've got plenty of witnesses to back them up! They'll be cops all over the campus looking for you!"

Layne groaned and plopped down in one of the kitchen chairs. Cupping her face in her hands, she continued, "You're going to need a place to hide out, aren't you?"

Kruk'jedhin thought about it for a moment. If what the human female said was true and human arbitrators would be searching for him all around this area, it would be unlikely that he could escape without notice until he got his cloaking device functioning again, which could take a good few hours assuming he had the right tools. "Yes," he stated flatly in the Urth language that she spoke. Not waiting for her to offer, he added, "Will stay here."

"Sure. Why not? Make yourself at home," Layne mumbled under her breath. _Jerk. _

"Will do so," he replied, not getting the sarcasm in her words, but somehow managing to hear her.

She got up and rubbed her face, "Ok, well, how long do you think you'll be staying here? Because I have no idea when my friend, Marcy, is coming back and when she does, all of this," she gestured to him, to the still broken roof, to her, "is gonna be pretty hard to explain." There was another pause, and then he shrugged. She gaped at him, "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Do not know," was all he said, repeating the movement.

"Fine, whatever," Layne walked over to the fridge, she opened the door and peered inside, 'I'm going to go ahead and get dinner cooking. I take it you'll want more apples?"

Kruk'jedhin looked to see her holding a red orb of fruit; the same kind from that morning, "Sei-i."

"Say what?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

In roughly half an hour, they were sitting in the living room with an odd dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with milk and apples on the side. And yes; watching her 'guest' devour his food had been a very… unique, experience for Layne. She tried her best not to stare, but it was pretty much impossible not to. He just dove right in, in a matter of speaking, after using some device that she believed was a type of scanner. He disregarded the serving spoon she had given him- she had gotten that instead of a regular spoon because of the size of both his hands and crab-like maw- and instead scooped out the tomato and meat covered noodles with his hands, sliding the mess into his mouth and making slurping and smacking sounds all the while. She wondered if her mouth and eating habits were as foreign and strange to him as his were to her.

Within five minutes tops, he was getting up, heading back into the kitchen, and getting himself another plate full. _If this goes on for very long, _she thought, _people will think I'm stocking up food for the zombie apocalypse._

After cleaning up from the meal, she set out to trying to start on fixing the roof. She piled the wood and shingles up first, and then climbed up on top of the building with a box of tools that she had dragged out of the closet, along with a lamp in case she found herself working into the night.

Kruk'jedhin looked up as the blue sheet that had covered up the hole in the ceiling was torn away, revealing the human female with a small crate of primitive construction instruments. He read the look on her face and in her eyes that told of deep confusion and wondered why she had set off to do this herself. Surely there were others of her species better skilled and more experienced for the task. After searching for the right words and how to pronounce them in her language in the vast data of his Bio-Mask, he called up, "Female, a-tempt to fix will not work. Not skilled. Not know how. Do not e-van try." 

Despite how much he butchered the words, she got his message loud and clear. Layne looked down with a scowl and yelled back, "Don't tell me what I can and can't do! It's my house! And _this,_" she gestured to the hole, "should be no problem. I'm not stupid, you know."

_Prideful little thing, _Kruk'jedhin thought. "Do not kill self," was all he said next before heading off to work on his cloaking device. He heard her humph in reply, then the sounds of wood being moved and cut, and a hammer banging away.

Sure enough, he then heard the female cry out in pain, "_Gah!_"


	4. Chapter 4

_((__**Author's Note**__**:**__ Thanks everyone for the continued support in this story. I'd also like to give a big thanks to one of my readers who gave me the idea to have Kruk'jedhin enter the bathroom; it was good way to show their contrast in character as well as between the Yautja and humans.))_

Layne muttered obscenities under her breath as she cradled her swollen, still throbbing hand close to her chest, holding ice cubes wrapped in a rag to the wound. Meanwhile, Godzilla continued to chortle on the couch turned into a bed- she had unfolded it before heading out- holding his sides from his constant laughter.

"Screw you!" Layne yelled at him from the kitchen. That only made him laugh harder.

Kruk'jedhin decided he might as well give the female a break from his taunting and walked over by her side, one hand reaching for his medicomp and the other reaching out to examine the abused appendage. He thought he might as well return her attempted favor from earlier that morning.

Besides that, he didn't believe she could cook with only one good hand.

There weren't any broken bones-surprisingly. Another scan, however, showed pretty serious damage to the back of the human's head and along her spinal column. Their fight had done more than to her what she would let on. He would've been stunned if she was able to move at all the next morning. He wasn't a medic, but he was certain that one wrong, tiny move could be all it would take for her to damage herself permanently if not fatally. And this creature was apparently accident prone. _It might be a good thing that you're so hard-headed, _he thought to himself. The quickest, surest way to heal all of the female's injuries, Kruk'jedhin supposed, was to use another health shard. He pulled one out from the medicomp, snapping it in two.

Layne stepped away, eying both him and the strange object he was holding suspiciously. "What's that?" she asked with caution.

Gripping one half of the shard, he took her by the arm in a shockingly gentle way, wielding the medical tool as if it were a dagger.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing?" her tone rose in pitch slightly as she yanked her arm free from the Predator. She didn't like the way things were looking.

With a low rumble of annoyance, he barked at her and motioned for her to come back that instant. He couldn't believe how much she was acting like a suckling.

Layne turned and started to run off in the other direction, but didn't make it very far before she felt a muscular arm wrap around her waist and pin her arms to her sides. As her back met his solid chest, she began kicking and struggling like some feral animal.

Ignoring the female's demands to be released, he pressed her tighter to his form in order to restrict as much movement as possible. Swiftly, before she could injure herself further or manage to slip from his hold, he stabbed the shard just above her breasts.

She felt a large hand cover her mouth before she had the chance to scream. Burning. Horrible burning. The feeling of her insides being fried spread throughout her entire body. Had she been able to speak, she would've called him every curse word known to man. For what seemed like forever, she felt the constant sensation of being tossed into a roaring fire, flames eating her away. Soon everything went black.

Kruk'jedhin sighed with relief when the female fell limp in his arms into blissful unconsciousness. She fought back like a pup too, but by Paya, surely even Yen'di, the weakest of his pack during basic training, who had survived his Chiva by the skin of his teeth and had grown to be a scientist, hadn't been so irrational when using a health shard for the first time. Yes; it did hurt, but there was no reason to be so dramatic.

After setting the female on her cot so she could sleep off the effects of the medicine, he jumped out from the whole in the ceiling to land on the roof; kneeling to search through what tools the human had that might come in handy in repairing his cloaking device. Just as he expected though; they were all very primitive. He would have to return to his ship to get what he needed, and it was some distance away from this village, hidden and invisible to the eye of humans within a thick forest. Scaling a nearby tree, he looked over the area.

Chances of leaving without getting spotted were extremely poor. He could see the blinking of lights of the vehicles that human arbitrators rode in even from this distance, coming from the direction of what he now wondered was an odd version of a kehrite. Switching his mask to thermal vision, he picked up the Pyode Amedha enforcers patrolling the many streets. He heard the vehicle approach before it neared his hiding place. Kruk'jedhin ducked deep into the withering leaves and waited silently for it to pass.

Only it didn't. It parked just on the other side of the street, directly in front of the human female's home. He could spot two Pyode Amedhas sitting inside, waiting. Upon closer examination, he was able to determine that they were the same males from earlier that day. Increasing the range and volume of his translator, he managed to pick up some of their discussion.

"…I don't see why we're even bothering at this place to begin with. The girl seemed pretty oblivious to me."

"I told you already, I've just got a hunch that our boy's here somewhere. And think; shouldn't she have been more afraid than she appeared? What with all the disappearances?"

"You know these types; they turn eighteen and then think they're invincible. That it's always somebody else and nothing can go wrong. Look, if you want to check it out, why not get a warrant?"

"You idiot, remember, we're trying to keep a low profile. Weyland will have our heads if we risk the police finding us out. If they get the big guy before us-"

"Ok, ok, I get it."

Kruk'jedhin would need to watch out for those two and this Weyland. He didn't doubt for a moment that they were talking about him. Who else would they be looking for? He hid under the cover of the leaves, resting in the branches until, after many hours, the human males finally left the area.

The night had only grown colder. Working out his stiff muscles, he hopped back onto the roof. There was no power on this forsaken planet that he was going to spend another night freezing. And since the female was too stubborn to get the help she obviously needed, he guessed it was up to him to do the job. Looking out once more on the horizon, he determined that most of the human arbitrators had abandoned their search at least for now. That should've given him enough time before dawn. Examining the tools again, which were a little too small for his hands, he thought, _a mere pup could do this with their eyes closed._

…

Layne woke up the next morning with a moan of pain. Her entire body ached. Pushing herself up from her bed, she managed to roll off of it.

…Only to land face flat on the floor below.

"Ow…" she said in a low groan. Memories slowly poured in from the previous night. Getting up again, she found herself walking to the living room. She might have been a pint-sized wacko next to him, but she could be a little ball of hate when she needed to be too, and she intended to give her house guest a piece of her mind.

The first thing that registered was the undeniable stench of blood, heavy and thick in the air. The second was that the roof was fixed- it even looked as good as new. How he repaired it within a night, she'd never know. _Ok, _Layne thought, _he's off the hook for that. _Third; Godzilla was missing.

A loud banging noise came from the kitchen. Peering inside, Layne's eyes widened and she momentarily forgot her soreness. Hanging from a metal wire that stretched from one side of the room to the next hung seven dead squirrels. Each one had some type of hole or slit drilled through it. Over in the corner, Godzilla was scrubbing away at a large white skull that was clearly from Kong Jr. A mix of green and red blood painted the floor.

Noticing Layne enter, he turned to face her. "Fresh kills," he stated simply. "Will skin, you cook," he added nodding in her direction.

Coming up with little else to say, she gaped a little longer at the scene before saying, "You get a lot done in one night."

After an agreement on making stew out of the meat, Kruk'jedhin set to work on finishing cleaning his trophy and skinning the Urth rodents. When he was younger, on one of his first trips to this world, he had shot one out of pure reaction. Wishing not to waste a kill, he had made a light snack of it and had actually found the creature tasteful. As the sun rose, he had spotted several scurrying from tree to tree and in front of the dwellings of other humans, and had easily picked them off. Only a suckling would collect trophies from them and the skins weren't worth saving, but perhaps the female would find some use in them.

The female had gotten onto her small computer from a moment to see how to prepare a meal from the rodents before heading into the main room of the dwelling. He could hear her putting up the large cot, mumbling about the mess she'd have to clean up and how she hoped the blood wouldn't stain the floor. It was only when things got really quiet that he began to wonder what she was doing.

_Boom! Boom! T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t! _ The sounds of burners and other Pyode Amedha weaponry suddenly rang out. _Bang!_ "Die, you piece of scum!" he heard the female shout. As swift as lighting, Kruk'jedhin activated his wristblades and dove into the other room.

Layne screamed as Mr. Muscle rammed into the living room like a bullet. She flipped over the arm of the couch and ducked; his quick appearance and clear aggression causing her to scramble a safe distance away, dropping the Xbox controller in the process.

Godzilla jerked his head from side to side, looking for a threat. Finding none, he glanced over at her. "Where fight?" he asked, sheathing his wristblades, "Heard fighting."

Putting two and two together, Layne got up with as much dignity as she could muster and replied, "Dude! That's _just_ a video game!"

"Game?" he tilted his head to one side.

"Yea, a game and-" she looked over to the TV to find her character getting surrounded and shot from all sides, "Oh crap!" With impressive speed, Layne yanked the controller up and paused her game in one quick motion. She sighed in relief. The Predator looked at her, to the game, then back again. It was clear he still didn't understand and, true, her reaction had been a little bit much. But she'd shoot herself before being forced to start all over from the last save point.

She may have also had a tini, tiny obsession with the Xbox.

"Haven't you ever played a video game before?" she asked him.

He shook his head 'no', his dreadlocks swishing back and forth from the movement.

"Huh, and here I thought you were so high-tech compared to all of us," she smirked, earning herself a bop on the head. After a short stare-down, she continued explaining, "Basically, I use this" she held up the controller, "to control my character," she pointed to one of the people on screen, "and it does what I want depending on the game, like this." She resumed the game, making her character take cover from behind a wall and fire upon her enemies, tossing a grenades and firing from a machine gun.

"What game?" he questioned, watching with curiosity.

"_The Mighty Shall Fall,"_ Layne answered, "It's- nononononono!" she hollered as she began to lose health fast. Running from the rest, she quickly used a med kit before turning around and throwing another grenade. Her nimble fingers darted and jerked around the buttons. Pausing the game once more, she continued, "It's an assassin game. Your character is assigned different people to target and track down, and you have to take them all out. In this one, you get to travel around the world, hijack cars, and choose from a ton of different weapons."

"Hunt?" he asked.

"In a way, yeah, but you're hunting people."

Kruk'jedhin watched with interest as the virtual character raced through a fortress like building, slaughtering her way through her opponents. Still, he wondered why someone would waste their time with these games instead of going on real hunts. It seemed pointless; however, the female seemed to be enjoying herself with it. Maybe the creation of these games were to quell what violent nature lay within the Pyode Amedha; a distraction from wiping themselves out by instead eradicating enemies from imaginary battles. Or perhaps it was a way of training them in violence. The subject might be worth study.

Once her target had been eliminated, the female cheered with a shout, ecstatic with her success. It was amusing to him, like watching a pup collect their first trophy from some small unfortunate creature that had been let loose inside their quarters for the soul purpose of being caught and killed.

After saving her progress, Layne held out the controller to him. "Wanna try? I can go to the last save point." Reluctantly, Godzilla took it. She struggled not to laugh at how ridiculous it looked within his large grasp. For a moment, she figured it might not be the best idea; if he got mad enough with the game, he might just break the Xbox. After all, she had felt that way enough times, only she wasn't a walking time bomb just waiting to blow. Hopping that everything would be fine, she explained the basic controls and restarted it from the last point.

The screen showed the character driving around in a military truck, heading straight for the building where the target was. "Don't worry if you have some trouble. It took me a while to get this far in the game," she told him.

But the character never made it to the building. Layne didn't know what Godzilla pressed, but the next thing the pair knew, mini Layne rolled out of the vehicle which continued to drive straight for the building.

She watched in shock as the entire stronghold came crashing down as two tons of metal met a brick wall. A pop-up appeared in the right-hand corner of the screen stating that the target had been eliminated. As the character approached the area, they found that no one in or around the building had survived.

She couldn't tell behind the mask, but she was pretty sure that Godzilla was staring very smugly at her at that moment. All she could do was gape at the screen for the longest while. _But- but… HOW?_

Getting up, she went into her room, "I don't want to play anymore."

_((__**Author's Note**__**: **__By the way, the thing with the video game is actually based on something that happened to me back when I used to have foster brothers. One of the boys was playing an assassin game on the PS2, although I can't actually remember what it was called. The targets were all named after cards, like the Queen of Spades, if that helps anyone figure out what it is- it may be kind of an old game. Anyway, he had spent forever trying to fight his way through this base and after a while he finally got the target. Well, I'm probably eight years younger than him, and maybe around seven years old here and I beg to play it. So he restarts from the last save point, tells me what to do, and I start driving up to the base. What happened in the story is exactly what happened then, only afterwards, we probably spent a good half hour at least trying to repeat that. XD)) _


End file.
